A Southern California family is devastated after an arsonist set their home on fire, killing their beloved cat and destroying everything they own.

On July 31, at around noontime, the Majano family was away from their Pasadena home.

Mitzi Majano and her two children — a 13-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter — were enjoying a summer day at a local water park.

Her husband, Nassan Majano, was serving drinks from a coffee truck he operates, parked just down the street from their home.

That’s when a neighbor suddenly ran up to Nassan telling him his house was on fire.

The frightened family rushed back to their home to a heartbreaking discovery — nearly everything they owned had been burned to the ground.

Although the family was uninjured, their beloved cat, Oreo, was trapped in the blaze and did not survive. Oreo was adopted during the pandemic to provide comfort to the family.

“We actually tried to save her,” Nassan said. “We knocked down the door and tried to break into the house but it was impossible to get inside. The flames were way too high. The heat was intense.”

“We have maybe 5% of what we own,” Mitzi said tearfully. “I’d rather have zero [belongings] and have my cat back. He helped my kids during the pandemic so much. So after this, it’s even harder.”

The suspect who torched the home was later arrested and identified as a homeless man. Police said the incident appeared to be random.

“He actually claimed, immediately, that he did it,” Nassan said of the arsonist.

For now, the family is going through the rubble and salvaging whatever they can as neighbors and loved ones help the family rebuild their lives.

The parents said their children are having a hard time coping with the shocking events. They said they are leaning on their faith to help them endure this difficult period.

“Everything in the kitchen was burned, but my son had left his backpack with his Bible on the table and it didn’t catch on fire at all,” Mitzi said.

Officials from the American Red Cross and a local food bank are helping the Majano family who remain displaced for now.

A GoFundMe page to help the family recover can be found here.

Seventeen suspects were arrested during a major narcotics bust at a property in Costa Mesa.

Over the past several months, Costa Mesa police have received complaints from neighbors regarding potential squatters and illegal drug activity at a property with three separate units on the 100 block of Clearbrook Lane. 

On Thursday, police served a search warrant and probation check at the residence where 17 people were arrested on-site. 

The suspects were arrested on a variety of charges including felony and misdemeanor warrants, narcotics sales, possession of narcotics, possession of paraphernalia, parole violation, probation violation and resisting arrest. 

A few hours later, two additional suspects arrived at the location and were also taken into custody.  

One of the suspects was wanted for narcotics sales. Both of their vehicles were towed from the scene.

Three garages on the property were red-tagged and boarded up by authorities. Police have not released details on what was found inside the garages or the residences, although photos of the bust show illegal narcotics were found at the scene.

Animals that were found at the property were also handled by animal control crews. 

“This was a complete team effort, including many team members from the police department, OC Probation, Code Enforcement, and our residents,” said Costa Mesa police.

The suspects’ names were not released as the case remains under investigation.

A motorist is in critical condition after he was shot in the head while driving through a neighborhood in the Vermont Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles Friday morning.

An assault with a deadly weapon call was reported around 12:15 a.m. in the 1000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed.

Responding officers located a Hispanic man in his 50s suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

The victim was apparently driving when he was shot and subsequently crashed into two parked cars.

The unidentified man was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, the spokesperson said.

There was no word on a possible motive for the shooting.

Police were also unable to describe the suspect or any possible suspect vehicle as of Friday morning.